We are pleased to announce we are accepting abstracts for chapters for our tentatively titled book, Teaching Black American Speculative Fiction & Beyond: Equity, Justice, and Antiracism. This proposed collection is based on our popular 2021 NCTE Assembly on American Literature (AAL) session, which focused on American speculative fiction and issues of social justice. The collection will focus on equity, justice, and antiracism within different genres/modes of speculative fiction (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, horror) and various formats (e.g., short and long fiction, film, graphic novels, comics, and plays). Each chapter will apply a theoretical lens or critical approach to a text and describe ways in which the text can be used for engaging secondary-school students to think, talk, and write about issues of equity, justice, and antiracism.
Proposed structure:
Each chapter (3,500 to 4,000 words, double spaced) will introduce an author of speculative narratives, analyze issues of equity, justice, and antiracism through a particular lens (e.g., nationhood, history, agency, gender imbalances of power) in one of the author’s texts, and offer three lesson ideas/learning activities aligned with NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) standards for teaching English language arts, particularly the standards’ focus on instruction that supports antiracism and antibias. Chapters will conclude with final thoughts teachers using the text may consider concerning text selection, genre, applying critical lenses to texts, antiracist teaching, and so on.
A partial list of relevant authors is provided below. To be considered for this project, send us (khintonj@odu.edu & karen.chandler@louisville.edu) a brief (200-300 word) abstract describing the focus of your chapter and a 50-word bio, including your current academic affiliation, by July 29. Please follow the APA Publication Manual, 7th Edition.
Timeline:
- Proposal Due Date: July 29
- Proposal Acceptance Notifications: August 30, 2022
- Chapter Submission Due: January 2023
Author list
Tomi Adeyemi Zetta Elliott Dhonielle Clayton
Octavia E. Butler Kacen Callendar Virginia Hamilton
Samuel Delaney N. K. Jemisin W. E. B. Du Bois
Nnedi Okorafor Justina Ireland Jordan Ifueko
Ashley Woodfolk Rebecca Roanhorse George Schuyler
Walter Mosley (e.g., 47) Alaya Dawn Johnson
Jewell Parker Rhodes (e.g., Bayou Magic)
Colson Whitehead (e.g., Zone One)
Co-Editors of Proposed Collection: KaaVonia Hinton, Old Dominion University, and Karen Chandler, University of Louisville